Media Releases

Halifax Electric Membership Corporation (Halifax EMC) is currently accepting applications for the Retired Manager’s Scholarship. This scholarship program is aimed at supporting the educational aspirations of current high school seniors whose parents or guardians are members of Halifax EMC.

Eligible applicants must be intending to enroll as full-time students in accredited North Carolina universities or colleges, including junior, community, vocational, or technical colleges.

“The Retired Manager’s Scholarship reflects Halifax EMC’s commitment to empowering the next generation of leaders and supporting their pursuit of higher education,” said Julia Allsbrook, manager of member services and community engagement at Halifax EMC. “We are dedicated to investing in the academic success of our community’s youth and providing them with opportunities to achieve their educational goals.”

The scholarship program aims to alleviate the financial burden associated with pursuing higher education and assist deserving students in reaching their academic potential. Halifax EMC will award scholarships to selected candidates based on their academic achievements, financial need, extracurricular involvement, and letters of recommendation.

To apply for the Retired Manager’s Scholarship, interested candidates can click here to access the application form and review the eligibility criteria. The deadline for submitting applications is April 1.

Halifax Electric Membership Corporation is a member-owned electric cooperative serving over 10,000 members in four counties of North Carolina. Since 1938, Halifax EMC has been dedicated to providing reliable electric service and supporting the communities it serves through various educational, economic development, and community outreach initiatives.

Halifax Helps, Inc., the administrative organization for Operation Round Up® through Halifax Electric Membership Corporation, recently awarded over $17,000 in grants to six local organizations.  

The following organizations received grants at an awards presentation held at Halifax EMC’s Enfield location on Tuesday, December 19, 2023: 

• Halifax Academy Patron Organization, “Playground of Possibilities” 
• Historic Episcopal Church of the Advent, “Parish House Updates” 
• Hollister Community Center, “Building Safety and First Response” 
• Sylvan Heights Bird Park, “Education Department Programming Augmentation” 
• New Providence Christian Missionary Baptist Church, “First Aid Response and Safety” 
• Rho Tau Omega Chapter – Scholarships and Service Projects, Inc., “Special Needs of Childhood: Food and Emotional Sustainability” 

Through the generosity of Halifax EMC members who choose to round their electric bill up to the nearest dollar each month, Halifax Helps has awarded 285 grants totaling over $704,000 to local organizations over the past 15 years. Proof that we can spark change with spare change! 

Halifax Helps was established in 2008 to support community projects that address emergency response, economic development, education, energy efficiency, or the environment. Grants are awarded semi-annually, and the grant guidelines and applications are available at halifaxemc.com. The next deadline for submission is March 29, 2024. 

Approximately 1,800 high schools students gathered in Washington, D.C. June 18-23 as delegates to the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour.

Dozens of North Carolina students, including one local delegate sponsored by Halifax EMC, took part in the week-long opportunity.

LaTonya Nolen of Enfield was selected as a delegate to the Tour by Halifax EMC after completing an application and essay. LaTonya is a rising senior at Halifax County Early College.

On the Youth Tour, students participated in leadership training, engaged in one-on-one conversations with elected officials, jumpstarted their national peer network, learned about electric cooperatives and toured D.C.’s historic monuments and museums.

“Our Youth Tourists explored D.C. with confidence and curiosity, and that was great to see,” said Julia Allsbrook, manager of marketing and economic development. “The Youth Tour emphasizes the importance of civic engagement and the fact that politics touch every aspect of life. We hope the experiences and skills that delegates gained during the trip will benefit them on their journey to becoming our next great leaders.”

On the seven-day tour, students learned about United States history at the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and many of the Smithsonian museums. The delegates paid their respects to soldiers who lost their lives in service to the nation at Arlington National Cemetery, and visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall as well as the Korean War Veterans Memorial. Several members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation answered policy questions and offered advice to the students in a meeting on Capitol Hill.

For 58 years, America’s electric cooperatives have brought students together from communities across America to build connections and practice leadership on the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. Forty-three students from North Carolina participated this year, joining peers representing electric co-ops in 43 states.

Students apply and are selected for the Youth Tour program by their local electric cooperative. Nearly 50,000 students have participated in this program nationally, and Halifax EMC has sent local students since 1967.

See highlights, photos and live videos from the North Carolina Youth Tour on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Halifax County received a $170,000 zero-interest loan to help pay for a new roll-off truck for the Solid Waste Division of the county’s Public Utilities Department. Halifax Electric Membership Corporation is playing a supporting role in the purchase of the new roll-off truck by facilitating a loan funded from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (REDLG) program.

Halifax County’s new 2022 Mack Granite 64FR Roll-Off will aid the department in delivering waste to the county’s landfill site.

“Halifax County is grateful to Halifax EMC in facilitating the USDA REDLG zero-interest loan for the purchase of this new roll-off truck,” said Dia Denton, Interim County Manager. “Halifax County strives in all of our departments to provide the highest quality service to our citizens at the lowest possible cost. Having the zero-interest loan for this new equipment is assisting us in doing just that.”

“Facilitating zero-interest USDA REDLG loans allows us to support our communities far beyond our electric service,” said Charles Guerry, Halifax EMC executive vice president and general manager. “This is the co-op’s second zero-interest USDA REDLG loan to the county and we look forward to assisting with any future needs.”

In the past several years, Halifax EMC has secured more than $1.9 million in USDA funding within Halifax and Warren counties for fire trucks, patrol vehicles, a fireboat, as well as electric nursing home beds. As the funds are repaid, they are re-loaned to assist with future projects in communities served by Halifax EMC.

A new electric vehicle (EV) charging station has come to Lake Gaston and is located at Lake Gaston Pit Stop. Halifax EMC applied for and was awarded funding from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality through the Volkswagen Settlement Fund to fund the charger.

“This charging station will help increase local commerce, reduce emissions and bring the benefits of driving electric to our community,” said Charles Guerry, Executive Vice President of Halifax EMC. “Our members are increasingly interested in the convenience, cost savings and environmental advantage of electric vehicles, and we are proud to support expansion of this technology by securing funding for this local project.”

The new station at Lake Gaston Pit Stop is a DC Fast charger. DC Fast chargers provide the quickest charge available and can charge a depleted electric vehicle’s battery to 80 percent capacity in under 30 minutes.

North Carolina’s electric cooperatives, including Halifax EMC, are working to create a statewide network of EV charging stations, enabling the increased adoption of EV technology. Cooperatives primarily serve members in rural locations, and their expanding charging network fills gaps in charging infrastructure in rural and tourist-visited areas, creating environmental and economic benefits for communities.

There are already 74 charging stations online in the North Carolina’s Electric Cooperative network, supporting a total of 122 ports. More than 4,000 users have accessed these chargers, from communities across North Carolina and 17 other states.

The Lake Gaston Pit Stop DC Fast Charger is the second fast charger location for Halifax EMC. The first DC fast charger is located on Highway 561 at Robbie’s just off of Interstate 95, Exit 160.

Halifax Electric Membership Corporation (EMC), an Enfield based power provider to more than 11,750 homes and businesses, and North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives, the wholesale power provider to the state’s local co-ops, today jointly announce a significant milestone in energy innovation for North Carolina  – the operation of a newly constructed 6.9MWdc solar energy and battery storage project interconnected at an electric substation in Enfield, N.C.

This project, named Grissom, was developed by Pine Gate Renewables. It will generate enough energy to power approximately 1,030 homes annually and is a demonstration of the electric cooperatives’ leadership in incorporating new energy resources that enhance grid resilience and reliability to consumer-members, while also working toward sustainability goals set under the co-ops’ Brighter Future vision.

The Grissom facility is interconnected to Halifax EMC’s distribution grid via its Medoc substation, and North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives is buying the power under a long-term contract. In addition to the solar energy, Grissom provides 10MWh of additional energy storage, expected to be dispatched during peak demand hours as an additional resource for these high usage times and helping to control costs.

Halifax EMC worked closely with Pine Gate Renewables to provide the interconnection. “Halifax EMC is excited to share new efforts to build a brighter future for our local communities – through innovation, sustainability, and a continued focus on reliability and meeting member needs,” said Charles Guerry, EVP of Halifax EMC.

“This pairing of solar energy with battery storage is important,” said Lee Ragsdale, Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives. “Solar energy is most abundant during the middle of the day, but demand peaks in the late afternoon hours in the summer and early in the morning during winter. With this project, we are capturing a renewable resource when it’s most abundant, storing it and discharging it exactly when it’s needed – there’s a lot of potential here.”

About North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives

Driven by service and inspired by innovation, North Carolina’s electric cooperatives are building a brighter future for 2.5 million North Carolinians. Beyond providing electricity, each of the 26 not-for-profit cooperatives is investing in their communities and delivering new energy solutions to improve quality of life for co-op members in 93 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Learn more at ncelectriccooperatives.com.